Press conference-ish?

I attended a press conference and here is what I learned

My job is not only reporting and I’m observing the things around me, which is especially about my job. So here we go:  I have been invited to a press conference by Asus in February. The company was introducing its corporate products. That’s was OK until I entered Four Seasons Hotel  by the Bosphorus’s press registration desk. I’m shocked, too many unfamiliar faces! Who were those people? Not journalists either…

Asus enters the corporate segment

I found out the truth as the conference started: those people were the distributors and business partners of Asus that was never mentioned in the invitation. If I knew that, I wouldn’t show up…Anyway, the conference started  with Benjamin Yeh of Asus. Being Asus EMEA General Manager, we have seen the the company’s best sides in his presentation. But,  it was prepared for shareholders, business partners or distributors, not for the journalists. Man, I’m not buying your company’s shares or selling your products! Following Yen, we had Özge Kılıç, Country Manager at Asus Turkey, on the stage. Her speech focused on the products, which was more informative and data for the journalists. For example Asus enters the corporate products segment simultaneously all over the world. And their target is to have 20% market share in Turkey in 3 years, adding that the focus will be on SMEs. By the way their market share is 20% for consumer products segment locally. As for the products, Asus launched ExpertBook,  a laptop, and Expert PC, a desktop,  for the SMEs. These were all OK until Kılıç said they want wanted to reach their targets with “you.” Who is “you” here? Not the journalists obviously. I’m neither a distributor nor a shareholder of Asus. And the Asus team didn’t share any price info about the products. As many markets, Turkey is a highly price-sensitive market, especially the current USD/TL foreign exchange rates.

A journalist is not…

In a nutshell here is what I can say: dear brands! A journalist is not your distributor, shareholder or business partner. Always be careful whom you are inviting to your events. 

P.S: This press conference took place before Covid-19. But I wanted to share my experience anyway.

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I’m running Turkishtechnews.com, a website on tech developments from Turkey. I will be covering subjects ranging from startups to gadgets, digital economy to social media. I’m keen on new technologies as well. On top of those, I’m interested in drama and cinema, with one short and one long film script and three plays. Holding a B.A degree in English Language and Literature, I’m a tech journalist with 15 years of experience.

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